Lights! Camera! Ad-lib!
by calliecature
Summary: Why Jessica would simply answer "He makes me laugh" to that one question that has always been thrown at her: "Seriously, what do you see in that guy?
1. Chapter 1

**Who Framed Roger Rabbit Fanfiction Project**

**Title**: Lights! Camera! Ad-lib!

**Summary**: Why Jessica would simply answer "He makes me laugh" to that one question that has always been thrown at her: "Seriously, what do you see in that guy?!"

**Author's Note**: I barely remember the movie as a kid so I watched it now after 10 years and I love it! Richard Williams rocks! But what had stood out for me besides the effort and quality of animation-live-action is Roger and Jessica's relationship. This story is inspired both by the movie and by EricaX's fanfiction: Afterwards.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing in this fanfiction.

**Proofread by ReadingRose459 (thank you so much! :D)**

* * *

****

Chapter 1: He Makes Me Laugh 

If Jessica had it her way, she would not be doing cartoon shows.

Yes, she is a toon. But ever since she agreed to the contract to play as an extra in The Baby Herman Show, singing on the stage has become more and more appealing. At least on the stage there is an invisible barrier between her and the audience. In filming cartoon shows, she have to deal with idiots whose brains reside in their pants.

Her manager had convinced her that playing extra to a rising cartoon show would be a plus point to her starting career. So for one season, she gets a 15-second exposure to an episode now and then. Ratings soared after her first appearance and Maroon was more than happy to increase the number of episodes.

XOXXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Jessica Krupnick is trying very hard not to have a bad day.

But after getting into her car and finding her frying pan missing, she is _this_ close to breaking glass- with her voice. Taking a deep breath, she gets out of her car. She walks down the corridor, ignoring catcalls ignited simply by her walk. The clicking of her high heels pause at a certain door, a sign "Props Room" hanging jauntily at its frame. With a sigh, she grabs the door knob and heaving a deep breath, opens the door.

Again, she tries very hard not to scream.

It's a pandemonium of props. Household objects, furniture, toys and even boulders seem to have been carelessly dumped until needed. Everything that could exist was piled and threatening to topple from the excess mass. Don't they at least hire someone to organize?

Quietly closing the door behind her, she went to the nearest pile. Since they had just finished filming, surely they would just dump the props nearby, right?

CRASH!

Jessica turns at the sound coming from the outside before giving a shrug. This is Maroon Cartoon Studios after all. The door suddenly burst open to reveal a cartoon rabbit leaning on the doorway with a dazed expression.

"Ow!" he exclaims.

Jessica raises an eyebrow at him. Roger Rabbit, the secondary protagonist in The Baby Herman Show. Whenever she would come to the set, the rabbit would give her a goofy smile and greet her with a window-washer wave of his yellow gloved hand. But then again, she noticed the rabbit greet people that way before.

Said rabbit is now giving her the window-washer wave.

"Uh… Hi Jessica! What are you doing here?" pronouncing the "s" on her name with a light lisp.

She regarded him with a cool stare before turning her attention back to sorting through the props.

"I lost my frying pan."

Roger walks toward her, his large, floppy feet pattering, "You cook huh?" Jessica suddenly flips an oven toaster behind her and he catches it in the face with an "Oomph!" If that was intentional or not, he wouldn't know.

"I use it to ward off men, Mr. Rabbit," she said, not sparing him a glance. _Like that pediatric nymphomaniac and every man within a 20 feet radius, _she thought.

Roger peels the oven off his face with a pop.

"Puh-puh-puh-lease," he stutters. How can a stutter be funny? "Call me Roger."

He looks around dubiously, his cottontail twitching. It is then that Jessica realizes that they're all alone. In a dimly lit room. Where no one would pass by. Where affairs within the staff would usually take place.

Already she can feel a headache coming. Toon or human, all men are the same. With her, they all want one thing. This is the reason why she sings on stage. In the stage, there's a barrier- as the audience, they keep within the borders.

But throughout today, she's been leered at, catcalled, attempted to be groped (with grave consequences after) and been given an innuendo in every conversation- including the DOM in a toddler's body. Then just when she's about to go home, she has to go back in here and get harass by a hare.

If he's is trying to get her alone, he just dug his own grave.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Rabbit?" she asks, straightening up and walking deeper into the room. The rabbit follows her. Typical.

"I… uh… forgot," he said, his ears dropping in confusion as he looks around the pandemonium.

Jessica raises a brow at him over her shoulder. What an original excuse. She really needs to find that frying pan of hers.

"Don't worry, Jessica!" the rabbit said cheerfully, "I'll help you find your puh-puh-puh-pan! Whoo-hoo-hoo!" Leaping to the nearest pile, he began sorting and throwing every prop over his shoulder, the noise echoing inside the room.

Jessica looks at him for a while before going to a pile that seems to consist of utensils. _What a goof. _She watches him from the corner of her eye. Is he trying to win her favour first? Usually, men would have made their move already and she'd confront it with an ego-crushing counterattack.

"Aaauugghhh!"

She whips around to see Roger swallowed by an avalanche of props. After the dust has settled down, a yellow gloved hand thrust itself out from the rubble holding her frying pan.

"Found it!"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Jessica refreshes her make-up in a whole body mirror. In the reflection, she can see the rabbit being highly amused by a kaleidoscope.

"So, Jessica," he asks, "What do you do besides acting?"

She fluffs her hair behind her. Since she already got what she came here for, why did the rabbit go here in the first place? Usually, she would wait for the man to make clear his intent but it seems the rabbit is biding his time. _Looks like I'll have to tell him to back off without it_, she thought as she expertly applies lipstick in a single flow.

"I sing, Mr. Rabbit," she said, catching his eye by looking at his reflection. She turns around to face him and Roger finds himself looking at a pair of emerald bedroom eyes.

"Happy Birthday to you…"

Slow, sultry and dark chocolate sweet, her tone curling the simple song into an alto of allure. She walks toward him, her full hips swaying with each click of her stiletto.

Roger, who has been standing politely with his hands on his back, slowly began to back away as he realizes that she's coming closer. "Happy Birthday…"

She holds his gaze with her emerald stare and he momentarily stops when his back hits a chair. Strange, usually they would have come forward or be frozen in place.

"… to you…"

Without thinking, he climbs over it backward, making him level with her eyes even more.

Jessica places her hands on each armrest and slowly leans forward. "Happy Birthday…" Fear, confusion as well as her reflection can be seen in his blue eyes as he leans backward, his ears drooping.

"… Mr. Rabbit," she whispers. In about a moment, she will shove him back and coldly walk away. Men's egos are like their balls- metaphorically strong, literally weak. It makes them stay away professionally and so will him, whatever his intention is.

"Happy Birthday to…" she leans in even more and he lowers back further in discomfort as he watches her mouth form a pucker that is coming closer and closer.

"… yo-"

He stumbles down on his butt and a loud farting sound erupts inside the room.

Jessica blinks, stunned for a moment. No smell pervaded the air. Her distracted eyes fall on Roger who has a sheepish smile on his face.

"I think I found my whoopee cushion," he said, thrusting his hand from his overalls to reveal a red rubber pouch.

She straightened up, surprised. A smile forms unwillingly in her lips before a chuckle escapes. Pretty soon she can't stop chuckling until she bursts out laughing.

Looks like it may not be much of a bad day after all.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I tried (to my embarrassment) to research for seductive songs for this chapter. None sticked to my mind. Then I remember Marilyn Monroe in Smash! Series singing happy birthday to the US President, so why not?


	2. Chapter 2

**Proofread by ReadingRose459 (thank you so much! :D)**

* * *

**Chapter 2: A Laugh is a Very Powerful Thing**

Baby Herman watches over the haze of his cigar smoke as Roger waves goodbye to the voluptuous Jessica Krupnick.

The baby toon raises an eyebrow in surprise when she smiles at the rabbit and waves back before exiting the studio.

"Did something happen between you and that chick?"

Roger turns to him in surprise. "What do you mean, Herman?"

Herman adjusts his diaper, "That," he indicates with his cigar. "Seems to me, she's been getting friendly with ya for the last couple of days." He waggles his eyebrows for emphasis.

The rabbit smiles, oblivious to his co-star's loaded expression, "Yeah, she's not so bad once you get to know her."

"Knooooow heeer," Herman drawls, his eyes glinting mischievously from his stroller. Roger's ears cock at the tone. "You know for an ice queen that can set the world's loins on fire-"

"Hey! Let's keep this within PG rating!"

"- You seem to have gotten over her walls as big as her ti-"

"Herman!"

Herman laughs, puffing his cigar, "Just kidding, Roger. I can't resist knotting up your goody-two shoelaces. But seriously, what did you do?"

The rabbit shrugs, "I farted."

* * *

The Ink-and-Paint Club does have its perks- one of them is having their own private dressing rooms. Jessica turns off the lights before closing the door. Most of the staff has gone home save for the penguins whose turn it was to wash the dishes. High heels clicking, she walks past the back of the stage to hear a muffled sound.

She pauses. That doesn't sound like it belongs to the usual closing time of the bar. Her eyes train to the entrance leading to the front of the stage.

XOXOXOXOXO

Walking to the stage reveals two grand pianos and the muffled sound is coming from one of them. Jessica opens the lid of the black one.

Roger Rabbit lay trapped between the strings. The piano strings weren't knotted around his body. Roger is knotted on the strings.

The rabbit looks up to her in surprise. "Jessica? What are you doing here?"

She raises a brow at him. "What are you doing there?"

Roger struggled in the strings. "Oh this? I'm kinda stuck."

Grabbing his arm, she began to pull him, "No kidding." With both of their efforts, Roger slipped through with a final yank.

"Thanks," he said, adjusting his bowtie. Jessica sat down on one of the piano stool, looking around the grand room. She usually sees this view lighted and full of people. Right now, it's dim save for a few lightbulbs with an unmanned bar.

She watches him for a moment. "So, why are you here?"

The rabbit grins at her, "Puh-puh-laying mediator to two ducks! Donald came to me for a favour, said he and Daffy need someone to keep them from killing each other before they finished their practice rehearsal!" All the while he's talking, he mimes the story with his hands, his ears forming a pair of ducks to a knife and a gun.

Jessica smiles at his words; they do never finish any act. "What happened?"

"I accidentally got slammed in this while calming Donald."

"Why didn't you called for help?"

"I would have!" he exclaims, "but they were playing smoothly for 3 minutes longer than usual. Then they couldn't hear me over their fighting after!"

Jessica chuckles a bit.

He sits on top of the black piano looking around. "This is a swell place. Too bad toon patrons are not allowed." He looks at her, "So…"

"This is where I work, Roger." She stands up and glides down the center, "Singing is where I feel most free." She began to sway to an unheard music letting it lull her to another world.

_Moon River, wider than a mile_

_I'm crossing you in style someday_

It's a long shot from the songs she usually sings but it was the one that would sometimes play inside her mind. The piano croons in tune and Jessica turns around to find Roger playing the keys. She gives him a smile before continuing.

_We're after the same rainbow's end_

_Waiting 'round the bend_

_My Huckleberry friend_

_Moon River and me…. _

Enthusiastic clapping can be heard and Jessica doesn't have to turn around to see Roger's impressed expression.

"That was amazing!" Roger said, hopping up and down on the bench. "You make any song sound a hundred times better, even 'Happy Birthday'!" He stops hopping abruptly and looks down on the ground, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. A one-sided awkward moment pass as they both remember her version of the song.

Jessica sits down on the stool beside him. _Shouldn't I be the one to be embarrassed?_ She thought casting him a glance.

"I believe I owe you an explanation Roger," she straightened up from the seat, looking at him fully. "It's hard being a woman like me in a man's world." She points delicately to herself, her fingers brushing her cleavage. Realizing that she's putting more attention to it, she hastily withdraws her hand and shrugs. "I'm just drawn this way. That act I pulled in the props room? I was going to give you a message."

Roger's ears cocked into question marks which she momentarily finds adorable.

"What message?"

Her cool expression hardened. "To leave me alone," she brushes her hair off her face, avoiding his gaze and looking stoically ahead. "You have no idea how bursting a man's ego can keep them in line."

Silence lapse between them. Roger looks at her with concern. This is the first time she shows this side of herself. He's about to say something when she suddenly looks at him.

"Now your turn. Why did you go to the props room? And I know it wasn't because you were trying to find your whoopee cushion." How can someone find something that wasn't lost in the first place? She had heard his long-time co-star ranting about "that rabbit always forget everything but where he puts his whoopee cushion" during one of the film blow-ups.

Like every comedy act, he had sat on it on purpose. He had intentionally and willingly broken her spell back in the props room but that is an anomaly that she would figure out later.

Rabbit ears drop slightly as he smiles sheepishly. "Oh that? Well… I was trying to find you."

Her gaze is unreadable, "Why?"

Roger squirms at the hard tone but he matches her gaze with an open expression, "To make you laugh," he said seriously.

Jessica blinks. She's expecting, "to ask you out" or "to get your autograph" or anything admirer-related from puppy love to perverted.

"Huh?" is her smart reply.

Roger stands up from the stool making them eye to eye level. "Jessica, when you began working in the show, you never smile. You never talk to anyone and you leave immediately after your shot. You always look so distant and aloof, it must have been lonely."

She stares at him like he suddenly grew a new pair of ears.

"I ran to find you after the filming but when I did, I forgot what I came for," he continues. "I came because you look like you needed to laugh."

She came up with a smarter reply, "Laugh?"

Roger nods. "That's right. A laugh can be a very powerful thing," Jessica notices how he puts his hands to his chest when he said that before opening them up to her. "Didn't we become friends because I made you laugh for the first time?"

Jessica looks down quietly, her hair hiding her expression. A glow seems to be swelling up her chest- the same feeling she gets when she sings. Now that she thought about it, it's the same glow she feels whenever she's with him.

Roger wonders why she is looking at him like he has completely puzzled her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Proofread by ReadingRose459 (thank you so much! :D)**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Hungarian Rhapsody**

"Did I miss the dirt behind my ears again?"

"Hmm?"

Roger cocks his head to the side. "You've been staring at my ears." Sitting in front of the black piano, he looks at her questioningly, his fingers hovering over the keys.

After another night of playing mediator with Donald and Daffy, the two were left alone in the stage, the club about to close.

Jessica, who had been leaning on the piano board, stands up straighter. "Oh, I'm sorry Roger." She glides over to sit beside him. "It's just that Bugs Bunny has these stiff straight ears. But yours…" she puts a hand on her chin, "Are kind of floaty."

Roger turns to look at her, his ears trailing behind him with the movement. They were long, flat and floppy just like his feet. Jessica has seen his ears harmonize to his expression: twisting together with restraint, drooping in confusion or fear, perking up when happy. Whenever he'd exclaim a question, his left ear would curve into a question mark and his right would straighten into an exclamation point. She'd seen him imitate hats and hairstyles with them just to milk a joke. Sometimes they worked as an extra pair of arms to further a gag.

He grins at her, "They are kind of handy." He hops to the round stool and begin playing "Hungarian Rhapsody" with his ears on one piano and his toes with the other, leaning back on his arms. Then he begins to sing about two ducks that couldn't get along and got into a battle of anvils, dynamites, boxing gloves and cannons. He rotates the stool around with his hands, sweeping the keys alternately with his toes and ears.

Jessica laughs, giving him some room. Unfortunately, the music is a continuous rapid string of notes and Roger is starting to get blue on the face singing along with the melody.

XOXOXOXOXO

"I… am…" gasp "… never…" wheeze "… going to…" pant "… sing to… that music…" gasp "… again!"

The rabbit lays wilted on the stool. Jessica would have continued laughing but Roger seemed to need a moment. Even his cotton tail was drooped in exhaustion.

"That's enough excitement for today," she says standing up and smoothing down the wrinkles on her gown.

Roger springs up, recovering. Since the first night, it has become a routine for them to hang around during closing hours before she'd drive him back to his trailer. He had protested at first but Jessica would have none of it. Plus, they'd get to talk longer. She'd be lying if she said she doesn't enjoy his company.

Not that she'd actually say it out loud.

* * *

Throughout the season, there are several things she notices about Roger.

"Roger! For crying out loud! Does it have to take you an hour to get something from the refreshment stand?!"

Even if Jessica isn't sitting near them, she will probably hear Herman ranting from across the studio.

"Puh-puh-puh-lease Herman! I met Charlie on the way and I have to ask him how are his kids," the rabbit begins to tick off his fingers, "Then I met Goofy and we chatted about Disney giving him a son then I ran into Phil, the maintenance guy, and I ask how his gardenias are coming then Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum appeared and ask who is who because they forgot," his ears point outside while his hand ticks off his fingers, oblivious to Herman convulsing in irritation, "After I got us our drinks, I bumped into Gil and introduced me the 101 Dalmatians: Lucky, Spot, Fi-"

"For the love of-" Herman grabs a can of root beer from Roger's hand, "What have you not befriended in this planet!?" He drinks in one gulp before throwing it over his back. "Couldn't even enjoy my beer," he grumbles just before someone yells that lunch break is over.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Roger hobbles over to where Jessica is, massaging his ribs.

"I don't know why you put up with that," Jessica says barely looking up from the magazine she's reading.

"It's not like they mean any harm," Roger wheezes. Tourists were once again wandering inside the studio now that summer is coming.

Jessica puts her magazine down. "I believe Herman has the right idea for once." Unlike Roger who would stay and talk with the tourists, Herman would disappear inside his trailer to "take a nap."

"I have to, to cover for the two of us or they'd be looking for the 'baby'," the rabbit says, hopping over to a seat. It never occurs to people that sometimes a show is far from reality. Then Roger beams at her, "Plus kids are great!"

Jessica has to smile at that. From afar, she has seen Roger making zany faces to the delight of the tourists' children. "Didn't know you're popular with the ladies, too," she says coolly. Again, from the same distance, she has seen Roger in a bone-crushing hug by one of them while the other took their pictures.

Roger shrugs. "People see me a cross between this," he said, making a clowny face. "And this," he takes a stuffed rabbit from one of Herman's props. "Nothing more."

Jessica raises a brow at the toy, her expression aloof. _If they only knew._

"You're more than that."

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Surprisingly, it takes six days a week to finish a 10-minute cartoon show.

She finds herself watching from the back inside the room of the storyboard. Laughter fills the room as Roger demonstrates a gag and seems to be adding one of his own.

Sketches of the next episode were taped on the walls and he and Herman went through them scene by scene. Herman switches from the baby to the grumpy-old-grandpa mode several times but Roger seems to take both with good humour making the people laugh harder.

"There's just something that I don't get."

Jessica casts a glance beside her to see Herman's nanny beside her, also watching the practice. The girl continues.

"Why go through all those process of getting walloped, smashed, zapped, exploded, splatted for the sake of a joke? I mean, he literally puts himself out there to be laughed at. I know toons can shake it off but they can still feel them."

Silence lapses between the two as the rabbit lifts a protesting Baby Herman to his shoulders. Jessica gives her a long look before turning away. Feeling that she's being snubbed, the nanny begins to slide away-

"It's because he believes in the power of laughter."

The nanny looks at her in surprise. Jessica still has her eyes trained to the front of the room. _And is that a smile? _the nanny thought. She follows the toon's gaze.

What used to be a room of cranky people hard-pressed by the deadline of a Saturday cartoon show is now a crew clapping each other's backs and talking animatedly like they were all having a great day.

In the center of it all is Roger, bounding around and acting like a clown. Jessica just has to smile at that, remembering how she was about to have a bad day but he blew it off with the fart of his whoopee cushion.

She laughs out loud at that perspective, making the nanny look at her in confusion.

"I'm Jessica Krupnick by the way," she said, extending her hand. "What's your name?"

The nanny took her hand. "Mary but it's such a common name. Just call me Poppy."

"Well, Poppy, I believe I'm going to miss you."

"Why so?"

"Because a girl as smart as you wouldn't work for Herman for a long time."

For someone who looks so sweet, Poppy gives her a knowing smirk.

* * *

Author's Note: The idea of Roger singing in Hungarian Rhapsody was inspired by Animaniacs Movie: Wakko's Wish when Wakko sang long and fast that I was the one left breatheless after. How did he do that?

The nanny, yes, I know what you're thinking

more to come!


	4. Chapter 4

**Proofread by ReadingRose459 (thank you so much! :D)**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Ad-lib**

"You've got the romantic ideas of a 14-year-old girl."

Roger turns to Herman in surprise. It's normal for Herman to say what's in his mind but he never mentions "the mushy stuff".

"Jeepers, Herman! There's nothing wrong with settling down," he replies. One ear cocks into a question mark. "Why did you bring that up anyway?"

Herman puffs his cigar, looking at his long-time co-star of 30 years. In their show, Roger looks out for "Baby" Herman. But in reality, they watch each other's back. When things get messed up and Herman loses his cool, that's where Roger comes in. However, when it comes to people that can and cannot be trusted, that's more of his forte.

Roger's getting close with that extra, Jessie or Jane or whatever. During filming, he would see them talking; either one of them would make an effort to spend some time together before going their separate ways. Then Roger would disappear almost every night to the club where Herman knows that redheaded temptress works. After that, because they're neighbours by their trailers, he'd see him hopping off her car bidding her goodnight.

"You say yer gonna look for a nice rabbit someday and settle down, right?" he asks over the cigarette smoke.

Roger nods, "Unless her surname's Bunny then it would be a nice bunny!" He gives him a perplexed look. "Why do you ask, Herman?"

Herman looks at him with shrewd eyes. There are two types of stupid in the rabbit: one when he acts stupid to stay in-character and two when he's really being stupid which sometimes- no- always happens in real life. Roger can be so naïve. Plus, he has that innate ability to be comical by messing things up.

The "Baby" gives a long inhale in his cigar before puffing out a smoke ring. "Nothing," he said, "Just make sure to keep straight on that road."

* * *

Filming cartoon shows has become more tolerable ever since Roger has become her friend.

Jessica reads the script and is surprised that she has lines. Usually, she would just make an appearance. A soft pattering of floppy feet made her look up to see Roger walking towards her.

"Jeepers, Jessica! One of the writers said we've got a scene together this time!" he exclaims. He flips through the script.

"Lady walks up to rabbit. Then you say your line. Lady walks away. Rabbit gets heart shaped eyes, swoons and faints," he reads aloud. He hops up to the stool beside her. "Well that sounds like a piece of cake!"

"Do you always talk in exclamation points?" she asks in amusement, her elbow resting on the bar and her chin resting on her hand.

"Unfortunately, especially when someone's got a migraine at this unholy hour, Toots."

Jessica turns around to see a nanny pushing Herman's stroller who's nursing a cup of coffee. Roger waves at them enthusiastically.

"Hi, Poppy! Good morning, Herman!"

Herman takes a long draught from his cup before giving him a glare, "What's good about it?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"And action!" The jazz music begins to play in the background.

Jessica walks over to Roger, wearing an army uniform that had elicited wolf whistles when she came out the dressing room.

"Going to join the army, little trooper?" she asks in a velvety voice.

Roger's eyes glaze over when he looks at her. This Roger is wholly different from the one she shares conversations with.

For some reason, she doesn't know what to feel about that.

Jessica stoops down and much to her surprise; her hand went to cup his chin. If he is just as surprised by the ad lib, he didn't show it.

Roger giggles goofily in response as she gives him fully her man-catching look (which she really doesn't need to); retracting her hand until only her finger supports the tip of his chin.

_Odd, _she thinks. Usually when she plays scenes like this, the actors are actually smitten for real. She's designed to ignite such reactions. But the weight of his chin on her finger denotes the lack of complete slack that is common for the genuinely infatuated.

Again, for some reason, she doesn't know what to feel about that.

She puts a light pressure and guides his chin forward. "Remember," she purrs, leaning closer, "we want you," forming the last word in her mouth into a pucker (Again, she really doesn't have to) as she slips her finger from his chin and point at him like Uncle Sam. She pulls away and walks off, her hips swaying. From behind her, she hears a soft thump then a baby's giggling.

Roger, it seems, is a pretty good actor.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Eventually she finds herself staying long after her shot's been done. Lunch break is now spent near the studio with him and Herman. Even Herman seems to refrain from making crude jokes in the rabbit's presence. Herman muttered something about "burning that rabbit's delicate ears".

"I don't know what you're trying to pull back there," a shrewd voice says.

Speak of the devil. Herman looks at her with a squint and his arms crossed. He had walked over to her on the table and is casually puffing another cigar. Seriously, he will end up with TB before he'd reach another milestone.

"What do you mean, Mr. Herman?" She couldn't help but ask it coldly.

"That overloaded ad-lib. Ya think I only read my lines?" He stubs his cigar before tossing it into the floor. "I don't usually judge people by their looks 'cause that crap has always been pulled on me." He fixes his lounging robe and gives her a once-over, "But if you're a load of trouble as you look like you are -then I'd advise you to back off."

She raises an eyebrow at him and opens her mouth. But Herman holds up a hand, "I'm not done yet, Toots. You've been getting too friendly with my pal Roger; mess with him and you mess with me."

Anger flares inside her chest. _That's it. _She leans forward, setting him dead on her glare, "I'm not that kind of girl, Mr. Herman. And for someone who says he doesn't judge people by their looks, how come I never got that treatment from you?"

Herman's face turns to a sneer.

"Hey guys! Have you been waiting for me?"

Both their heads whip around to see Roger bounding up to them with a packed lunch. He plops himself on the space between them.

"Jeepers! Is it me or is it cold in here?"

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Jessica angrily fusses with the contents of her purse while she's inside her car.

_That… that infant! Walking up to me and hinting me of something I'm not! How dare him!_

She fumes before finally calming down. The truth is she's not really angry with Herman.

With a groan, she puts her face to her hands. What insanity possessed her to do that ad lib? Roger's a friend! A rabbit even! What was she doing, playing him like that even if it's just an act?

She leans to the backrest with a thump, catching her reflection on the side view mirror. Was she testing him back there? Does she seriously have trust issues this big that she has to know how Roger really sees her?

Then something stops her cold. Was she flirting with him back there?

He resisted her the first time back in the props room. He acted his attraction back there. He has been nothing but a friend the whole time. No matter how much she wanted to, what more does she need to know to fully believe that Roger is far from the men she had encountered before?

Why is this so important to her?

Jessica huffs before starting up the car. _Well, Herman, no need for you to worry. Roger doesn't seem to see me that way._

For the third time that day, Jessica isn't sure what to feel about that.

* * *

Author's Note: EricaX's fanfiction Afterwards made me think what is it like in Jessica's shoes. If I were her, I wouldn't be used to someone who sees me more than a piece of... um... candy. If you were Jessica, what do you think would be your issues? (Sarcastic comments would be ignored)


	5. Chapter 5

**Proofread by ReadingRose459 (thank you so much! :D)**

* * *

**Chapter 5: I'm Not a Bad Girl**

Sometimes Jessica will pretend that her heart has a lock and key.

Her face is tight but placid as she swerves her car on the road, resisting the very urge to ram something. The car screeches to a stop and she finds herself in Maroon Cartoon studios.

It is late. She shouldn't even be here. But she gets herself out of the car and heads to a cluster of trailers parked in the far end.

For someone who's a very bad driver, Roger surprisingly stays in a trailer. Herman had taken off the steering wheel for the safety of the people and property, much to the rabbit's chagrin.

Her feet lead her around the familiar trek and she dimly wonders what impulse has got her here at such an hour.

A whirring sound can be heard inside his trailer but Jessica is too distracted to notice. Without stopping, she grabs the doorknob and flings the door open.

Roger is standing in a portable fur-dryer wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Jessica!" He grabs a towel nearby and with zip-like speed, wraps it up to his chest. The air blowing from the grates of the fur-dryer flies the hems of the towel upward. Roger reactively bends over to place his hands on his knees, much like Marilyn Monroe on a subway breeze.

Jessica covers her mouth, her shoulders shaking. "Oh, I'm so sorry Roger. I should have knocked."

The rabbit turns off the fur-dryer with his toe. The air coming from it stops before his fur fluffed out in all directions with a "Poof!"

This time, Jessica bursts out laughing and turns around to give him some privacy. Who knew Roger could look like a giant cotton ball?

"How come the door isn't locked?" she asks.

She can hear Roger fumbling from behind. "Herman would usually drop by anytime and he hates waiting. You can turn around now."

Jessica turns around to see Roger wearing pajamas. "What? No bunny slippers?" she jokes.

Roger glances down on his feet. "I gave them away; Herman said it gives him the creeps when I wear them," he says. After a pause, he looks at her with concern, "Are you okay?"

Jessica fists clenches for a second. "I'm fine." This is ridiculous. Why did she come in here in the first place? A long-handled brush resembling a small rake catches her eye. "What's this?" she asks holding it.

Roger look of concern deepened, nonetheless he replies. "Oh that? My back brush. I'm a bit of an angora. If I don't brush my fur, it tends to get knotty." He always does that after bathing but it will have to wait for tonight.

Jessica glances at the other brushes stored in a container. "Being covered with fur must be high maintenance."

Roger smooths down his ears over his head, rolling his eyes, "Tell me about it, I always save my back for last."

She pauses, examining the brush before looking back at him, "Do you mind if I do it for you?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

A moan escapes from Roger's lips.

Jessica chuckles.

"Sorry about that," Roger said from the bed, sounding embarrassed, "But that feels gooooood…" His brain suddenly turns to mush as he felt the brush give the fur on his back a long slow stroke.

Jessica smiles from her seat on the side of the bed. It feels like petting a cat. She'd swear she almost heard him purr. Roger's cotton tail wagged lazily as he lay on his stomach, his pajama top pulled up to his shoulders.

"Jessica?" Roger's voice is strong even if he sounds like he's struggling not to pass out, "Why are you here? Is something wrong?"

He can feel the brush stop before beginning again. Silence lapses and Roger begins to crane his neck to look at her but then Jessica answers.

"It's nothing, Roger… it's just…" he hears her sigh. "Roger, does it bother you that people see you as a clown and a stuffed toy?"

Roger thinks about it for a moment, feeling the brush stroke his spine. "Sometimes, but I always forget. Why do you ask?"

Jessica goes silent even though she continues her brushing. What is she doing here? This has always happened to her. What could have possibly changed that she'd come to him now?

"I got another indecent proposal."

"WHAT?! Who-" Roger begins lift himself off the bed but stops when a hand presses him down gently on the back.

"It's okay, Roger. They're not going to bother me again. I made sure of it." It has never struck Jessica that Roger's the type to hurt anyone. Seeing him get riled up because of her has mildly touched her. She begins to brush his back again, trying to calm him.

"Wait, what do you mean 'another'?" This time, Roger cranes his neck to her, his eyes reflecting his concern.

"Roger," she said quietly, "I was drawn to _be_ sensuous. It would give me a heart attack if people treated me like I'm Snow White."

"How come you never said anything before?" Roger makes to sit up but she stills him by holding him by the shoulder. No, she can't face him yet.

"I'm a big girl, Roger; I can take care of myself." Her eyes were transfixed at the white fur on his back. "But sometimes, I wish…" her hand grips the brush tighter. Memories flash into one big blur- men wanting to have their way with her, women looking at her like her existence insults them, the catcalls, the leers, the gossips and finally the cold silence of solitude that keeps them all away. She finally says the words she always thought but never spoke.

"They judge me before they even know me," she says in that same quiet voice. "They expect me to do things that they don't even know if I'm capable of or willing to or not."

She feels so old and weary all of a sudden. Even her voice comes out worn in a way she would not have preferred.

"I'm not a bad girl."

The brush dangles uselessly in her hand and Jessica finds herself looking at her lap. A yellow gloved hand covers her purple-gloved one and Jessica looks up to see Roger offering her a small smile.

"You're not."

Roger is looking at her so honestly and had answered so simply that something broke down inside her.

He gave a small yelp of surprise when Jessica grabs him into an embrace. She feels him stiffen for a moment, before his arms comfortingly draw her closer in way that feels almost protective. Maybe she'd never be able to convince the world of who she really is. But if someone like him believes in her, it's more than enough.

"Thank you, Roger," she whispers before pulling away.

She kisses him in the forehead, a tad longer than necessary before walking out of the door and into the night.

* * *

Author's Note: It's almost done but there's more to come!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Nothing Happened**

In the gaily lit room of the Ink-and-Paint Club and amidst the black and white of penguin-waiters, Betty Boop is a sliver of grayscale toon. A customer thanked her for the cigarettes and Betty winks at him.

A thud can be heard in the stage and Betty turns around just in time to see Donald and Daffy being dragged away unconscious before the curtains closes. They managed to get along for 5 minutes longer- a new record which is short of miraculous in the duo's case.

The crowd becomes rowdier (generally the men) and most of them rushes to the edges of the stage. Betty smiles; adjusting her thigh band. Many people have expected of her to become jealous and embittered towards colored toons especially Jessica- today's sex symbol. But Betty simply shrugs it off. Life as an immortal toon is too long to harbour such.

Piano music can be heard and Betty immediately perks up. Something's different.

The curtain opens to reveal Jessica with the band of crows behind her. She sways on her spot centerstage, her eyes closed.

And is that a smile on her face?

Something _is_ different. Jessica opens her eyes and sings.

_L is for the way you look at me _

_O is for the only one I see_

_V is very, very extraordinary _

Betty cocks her head to one side. Jessica usually sings of the hardships and weaknesses of a man with slight disdain. The songs she always chooses has that grim worldly charm that connects to every disillusioned, hard-pressed John Doe. But this…

_E is even more than anyone that you adore _

Every singer has her own variation of a song. Jessica has that seductive skill to make a song sound more hypnotizing than a siren's woo. But this…

_Love is all that I can give to you_

_Love is more than just a game for two. _

_Two in love can make it._

_Take my heart but please don't break it_

Sounds happy… yet sad at the same time.

_Love was made for me and you_

The band plays a solo piece and Jessica closes her eyes. Betty thought she'd never saw her look so peaceful- like she has a world of her own. The room gave a harmonious sigh and Betty looks around to see herself surrounded no longer by wolves but by sentimental fools.

_Love is all that I can give to you_

_Love is more than just a game for two. _

_Two in love can make it._

_Take my heart but please don't break it_

_Love was made for me and you_

Usually, Jessica would dance her way slowly to the audience like a goddess who feels like gracing them with her presence, an unaffordable diamond, an unreachable star. But just standing there in the middle and swaying with the music has made everyone lean forward to their seat, enthralled.

_Love was made for me and… you_

* * *

"She just needed someone to talk to, Herman," his friend reassures.

Herman looks at him, trying to decide whether to believe him or not. A couple of nights ago, he had seen that woman of a toon walk out of Roger's trailer. He and Roger are both successful toon stars who live in trailers out of convenience. Just what is she trying to pull coming to Roger at such late an hour? As such, he is confronting him right now.

Herman opens a can of dry Canadian beer, "Funny, can't it wait until morning?"

Roger grabs a carrot coke and merely shrugs. Whatever Jessica had said was not for him to tell.

"Nothing happened?"

"Nothing," Roger said firmly.

Herman fixes him a penetrating stare. With him standing on a counter and Roger sitting, they were almost at eye level. Roger started to play with the can to avoid his gaze but then he felt a piercing sensation.

"Herman! You're burning a hole on my head!" the rabbit yells, feeling a space on his glabella. He shakes it off and the space between his eyebrows was gone.

The "Baby" was unpeturbed. "There's something you're not telling me," he decided, his arms crossed in his chest. Herman has a few friends, close friends rarer. As corny as it sounds- the few people he gives a shit about, he gives a truckload.

"Did she try to play patty cake on you?" he asks. As far as Herman knew, Roger has never been in the receiving end of that kind of attention. Too bad, Roger decided to drink when he asked that.

Roger choked, spluttered and spews out his drink with projectile motion. He hacks, thumping himself in the chest. It took a while before he recovered his lungs- and brain. "No!"

Herman raises a brow, nonchalantly wiping off flecks of carrot coke from himself. "Did you?" There's a reason why Playboy's logo is a bunny. "A woman like her…"

The look on Roger's face says it all. "Jeepers! No!" he said again. "Puh-puh-puh-lease! She's not that kind of girl and neither am I (the kind of rabbit, I mean)!" Roger then looks down, smoothing down his ears behind his head. "Nothing happened…."

Herman stayed silent, waiting for him to add anything else. The distracted eyes, his hands on his ears, tell him that there was more.

"Nothing happened…" he repeated, casting Herman a glance before looking away.

Herman shrugs, letting it go. Maybe he had been wrong about that woman after all. However…

He casts a look back to his friend who has walk back to the set.

Something had happened. Something has definitely changed.

* * *

Betty Boop bid goodnight to a passing penguin before getting her coat. She passes by the entrance to the main room, stops, then slowly walk backward, taking a peek.

The main room is empty, the bar unmanned, except one rabbit playing both pianos left on the stage. Roger is playing Can Can music with both feet on each piano while balancing on his arms.

Betty cocks her head to one side; Roger is coming and going in here for weeks now. She'd usually hear him over the din that is Donald and Daffy's squabbling. She walks into the main room, approaching the stage.

"Roger!"

Roger continues to play, too in deep with the music. Pretty soon, he was swinging himself around on his arms while playing both pianos with his toes alternately. Twenty years from now, it will be known as breakdancing.

Betty giggles. There was something to be envied about Roger, how he can have fun anytime and anywhere.

Roger finally notices her but didn't stop with the music. He gives her a wave with a rabbit ear. Betty stands politely beside a table, watching him perform for kicks. Floppy rabbit feet dexterously tap the keys with swift precision before ending with a dramatic flourish and a very tired bunny. Betty claps in enthusiasm.

"Bravo!"

Looks up from the stool where he lies wilted and gave her a friendly wave even though they were not that far from each other. "Hi Betty!"

"Whatcha doin' here all by your lonesome?" Betty leans on the edge of the stage, looking up to him. "Waiting for Jessica?" she asks innocently. She'd seen the two would still be talking during closing hours when she'd be going home.

The rabbit hangs his head down again, from exhaustion perhaps, making it difficult for Betty to see his face. "Yup," he says, "She's in her dressing room."

Betty flips on to the stage modestly and sits herself beside him. She had only met the popular toon when Donald was able to acquire him a pass. Sometimes they'd chat for awhile whenever they'd run to each other.

"How's the mediator project?"

Roger sits up, "Donald and Daffy develop allergic reactions after 7 minutes of not fighting." His ears waggled in emphasis, "If they don't fight, they get sick."

"So that's why they don't stay during closing hours any longer," she said then cocks her head knowingly. "Yet, here you are."

Betty restrains a self-satisfied smile of amusement as Roger stutters but then Jessica appears from the backstage, "Roger? Oh, hi Betty."

_You know what they say, three's a crowd_, Betty thought. "Just passing by," she said in a sing-song voice, standing up and hopping off the stage. She gives them a wave before walking away.

There's another reason why she won't let herself be embittered by the frustrations of a has-been. Whatever Betty has gone through being a sex symbol, Jessica is just experiencing.

She gives them a final glance before walking through the door. They were immediately in their own world. Jessica seems to be saying something and the smile on Roger's face, so unlike the desiring grins of their admirers, tells her Jessica is one lucky girl.

**XOXOXOXO**

**Author's Note: **if you want to enjoy Jessica's song, she sang Olivia Ong's L-O-V-E


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Seriously, What do you see in that Guy?**

"I'm sorry they made you wait outside," Jessica said.

"Puh-puh-puh-lease! It's not so bad," Roger said, playing a tune. Due to the fact that non-employee toons were not allowed, Roger was only allowed to go inside during closing hours even with the visitor's pass.

"I would have let you into my dressing room if I have known," Jessica began to play second beside him.

Roger shrugs, waving his rabbit ears off her concern, "I don't mind going early because you always perform."

She turns him, amused. "Roger, how can you even watch me perform?" He can be quite silly sometimes.

The rabbit grins. "You forgot, I got these," he said. He stands up, grabbing his ears and extending them to full length. "I can hear just as good as if I'm in front of the stage." He closes his eyes, remembering one of her songs. "Then I can see it inside my head, watching you sing.," he said. "For me, it's more than enough". He smiles with his eyes close still, as though the memory of her singing is already bliss.

_Oh Roger._ Jessica feels herself smile, her purple gloved hand reaching out to ruffle his red hair. She feels him press his head even more against her hand before one floppy foot reactively thumps on the stool, making her chuckle.

Roger drowsily opens his eyes to her, making her heart run faster. Her hand slowly smooths down his soft furry cheek to cup his chin, making his whiskers twitch when he felt her graze them.

From far, far away, Roger felt his feet move him forward. He's lost to that smile, to that eyes that seems so tender. If a meteor would fall right now, he wouldn't even flinch.

Subconsciously, she leans closer. She has been this close to him before. The first time, he had tried to put as much space between them as possible. The second time, he has ingeniously acted infatuated. Now this, a gaze so rare from what she was always given, that it held her awed for a moment. Is this…

A growl-grunt ensued from inside the room and Jessica retracted her hand quickly before squishing the urge to hurl the piano to the intruder.

They both look to the source of the sound, the moment forgotten, to see the gorilla guard standing on the doorway. The gorilla grunts and jerks his thumb outside. He steps aside on the frame, giving them a look that says "get out".

**XOXOXOXOXO**

The entrance/exit door slams behind the two as soon as they step outside. They cast each other a sidelong glance before looking away, the tension thick. Jessica looks stoically ahead while Roger rubs his arm. They continue to walk on the alleyway, refusing to meet each other's gaze that seem to land on each other again after turning away. When they reach her car, it was Roger who spoke first.

"Jessica," she turns to look at him and Roger was easily at loss of words, feeling himself melt a little. "I…"

He looks up to her from below, their contrasting height, what they are- reminding him that she's out of his league in more ways than one. "I…"

Jessica stays silent, watching him. Watching this stuttering rabbit with a lisp and baggy overalls. This optimistic, clumsy, silly rabbit who truly believes in life with laughter. This _person _who believes in her that meant the whole world.

This person who is now looking at _her_ like she meant the whole world.

Roger looks at his front in surprise where a pair of purple gloves has him grabbed. A yelp escapes him as he felt himself yank into the hood of the car.

His hands land on her shoulders as he looks at her with her hands still coiled on his overalls. "Jessica, I just want you to know you're way beyond me in every aspect of the word, you have no idea how hard this is for me, you're a really amazing person- talent, beauty, brains you got it all and when I got to know you better, I can't help but like you more and more but when you kissed me in the forehead back there something happened that I think the back of my mind already knew a long time ago but… but if I got _that_ all wrong" he gulps, willing himself not to look away in fear, his cotton tail quivering with tension, "Then puh-puh-puh-lease tell me what you really feel so that I can get over it! "

Jessica raises her brow. "You done?"

Roger thought for a while, distracted. "Yeah, I think s-" before Jessica tugs him forward and kisses him full in the mouth. He stiffens momentarily before his arms wrap around her and started kissing her back, his rabbit ears wrapping around her head deeper into the kiss.

It's true. Roger's _way _better lover than a driver.

* * *

The car named Benny roars down the road. The Detective Eddie Valiant sits on the driver seat as she told him everything she knows. The whole thing has become one big mess- seduction, deception and murder with Roger getting deeper and deeper into trouble every time she tries to protect him.

"So where to? My meter's running!" Benny said.

Jessica puts a hand to her head, thinking, wondering what could have happened to him. "I have to find my darling husband; I'm so worried about him."

Eddie looks at her, frankly confused, "Seriously, what do you see in that guy?"

She turns to look at him, her face once again a cold wall. A million memories flash, the times they shared, the times she thought of him, the tears, the laughter, their friendship, their love and finally back into the props room with an ice queen of a singer and a silly rabbit who melted her ice.

"He makes me laugh," she said before turning away and ignoring the surprised look on his face.

**THE END.**

* * *

**Author's Note**: Woohoo! I made it! I finished my very first multi-chapter! Victory dance with me people! Thanks to Jacob the guest who made the review and to the people who followed and put this into their favourites! :D All hail to of DA and whose fanfic has inspired my brain to nag me until I spew out this story!

Roger did marry a rabbit in the end, Jessica got his surname. If the world is a stage and life's an act, what do you call the unexpected? Ad libs!


End file.
